• Take a tour of Cal Poly’s new 29K square foot John Madden Football Center, which houses health and nutrition facilities, team meeting rooms, customized locker rooms and a weight training center. Upon entering the center’s foyer, visitors can immediately spot a statue of Madden sitting in the middle of a bench facing the doors. The statue is meant to be interactive, and guests are welcomed to sit next to him, per retired Mustangs AD Don Oberhelman, who led the tour ahead of the official ribbon cutting ceremony. Another feature is the Oberhelman Nutrition Hub, where players can get smoothies and other snacks before or after practice. More. (link)  
• UC Irvine extends its partnership with BSN Sports to continue serving as the exclusive Adidas supplier to the school’s 18 athletic programs. (link)  

Commissioner's Note: 
The Sorsby ruling has generated significant discussion nationally because it touches on one of the foundational principles of sports competition—integrity. While reasonable people may differ on the appropriate penalty structure, the case illustrates the growing challenge of maintaining consistent national rules through governance processes that increasingly intersect with litigation. 

• Texas Tech Football student-athlete Brendan Sorsby has been granted his temporary injunction against the NCAA after District Court of Lubbock County Judge Ken Curry found Sorsby would “suffer a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury” without its issuance because he would be unable to participate as a member of TTU’s 2026 football team, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. Effective immediately, the NCAA is enjoined from: prohibiting Sorsby from practicing, playing, or otherwise participating on Texas Tech’s football squad during the 2026 season; or in enforcing Bylaw 12.9.4,2 (Rule of Restitution). The judge also conditioned the injunction with Sorsby expected to continue individual clinical counseling for his gambling disorder; participate in peer support through Gamblers Anonymous; continue treatment for adjustment disorder with anxiety; not participate in the game day activities of Texas Tech’s first two contests of the 2026 campaign; and more. If Sorsby fails to conform to the conditions, the NCAA may apply for emergency relief. More, including the full injunction. (link) 
• The NCAA plans to file an appeal in the Sorsby case, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, who adds: “Several administrators believe conferences and/or schools should file an amicus brief in support of the NCAA's appeal as part of the filing.” (link) 
• We’ve compiled responses to the Sorsby injunction, including this from Kansas State AD Gene Taylor, whose Wildcats battle the Red Raiders in the Big 12: “It's f****** bulls***. I know the kid has a problem. Well, get well and focus on your problem. It is absolutely devastating for him to be able to play when every other sport, no matter the level, deems an athlete ineligible or they are punished severely for betting on their team." Check them all out. (link) 
• Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark released a statement: “The ramifications of today's ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership. I've been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled a meeting with our Conference ADs and our Executive Board this week. We are also in touch with Charlie Baker and anticipate the NCAA to appeal the order in the next 24-48 hours. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation." (link) 

 

• The DI Cabinet updated its position on the age-based eligibility model later yesterday: “The Cabinet modified the age-based model to start a student-athlete's eligibility clock upon initial full-time enrollment in college or at the beginning of the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs earlier. This adjustment would be applicable for all sports if the model is adopted. The adjustment follows recommendations from stakeholders in men's ice hockey, men's basketball and the U.S. national service academies.” (link) 
• Appearing on OutKick the Show with Clay Travis to discuss if Congress can fix the NIL era, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) remarked. “A couple of years ago, I would have been very skeptical of us doing it. … Congress is literally the only entity in the whole world that can say to the NCAA, ‘you have lawsuit liability protection, antitrust exemption status to make the rules and enforce them.’ If that doesn’t happen, this will continue on and I think the landscape two years from now will look very, very different. You’re just going to have a whole category of sports that’ll be club sports, no scholarship opportunities. Some teams may continue to participate in football. They may not. If they do, they might have one women’s sport to comply with Title IX. I just think this is a very important time for us. I also think Congress is the only entity that can say ‘you can have a unified rights deal,’ because if Congress doesn’t say that, that’s collusion. You can’t have conferences working together to get a deal with Disney or with CBS or NBC. Right now, that's collusion. That would violate antitrust laws that we have.” (link)  
• Big Ten and SEC revisions to the Protect College Sports Act are thought to be critical in garnering the leagues’ support for the legislation, however, the bill’s authors, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) might not be willing to budge on current language, with the former noting “any changes must be ‘feasible’ and be fair enough to obtain ‘bipartisan support.’” Writing for On3, Ross Dellenger noted each senator has made clear that they are against removing the rights-pooling provision or the concept that prohibits the two conferences from further expanding, with one staffer calling them ‘non-starters.” As far as any other changes go, Cantwell remarked: “I think Sen. Cruz did a really good job of telling (the presidents on Tuesday) that this is a compromise already, so if you think you’re going to change it massively, that’s not going to happen.” Cantwell continued on to observe that she and Cruz don’t agree on every aspect of their own bill, but “we compromised. That’s what the rest of this structure needs to do — come to the table to compromise.” More. (link)  
• The Senate Commerce Committee roundtable on Capitol Hill got underway this morning with stakeholders mostly coming from outside the A4, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, who notes that might have been an international move considering Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) opening comments. “‘In an unregulated bidding war,’ he said, athletes/schools with the least leverage get hurt most.” More from Cruz: “In my view, anyone who is a critic, anyone who is attacking this bill, has the burden of saying, what's the alternative? If you don't like this bill, what's the alternative that actually has a path of being passed and signed into law? If this doesn't happen, I think the alternative is doing nothing.” Texas Southern President James Crawford III added: “Doing nothing is not an option because it would just accelerate the economic arms race that’s being engaged in right now.” (link, link, link - full hearing) 
• The Senate Commerce Committee has announced a “markup” of the Protect College Sports Act for next Thursday, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, who adds the development marks “the next step in the legislative approval process, where lawmakers suggest amendments and vote on the bill, paving the way for a floor vote.” (link)  
• Kansas State AD Gene Taylor in a recent interview expressed frustration of programs exceeding the revenue-sharing cap with unregulated NIL: "I've been pretty vocal. I'm pretty frustrated that [when] this whole thing started, we had a cap, and as soon as we have it, everybody's trying to circumvent it. Not everybody, but a lot of schools. And what's realistic, right? I mean, if someone's saying they're spending $40M on football, I'm having a hard time doing the math. Okay, you give them $15M from your rev share, which is about what everybody's doing right now. So, that means you're giving another $25M in above the cap NIL. Well, we know that's not going through and being approved. And the schools that are trying to do that are frustrated with CSC and it's really not CSC's fault. They’re putting deals through that are not true NIL.” (link) 
• Freshman college football players who enroll early are increasingly utilizing NIL compensation to fund extravagant high school proms, according to the Wall Street Journal's Harriet Ryan and Brenna Smith. For instance, Oregon wide receiver Dakorien Moore, who holds a seven-figure NIL agreement, spent an estimated $80K on a celebration that featured a $12K event planner, a catered lunch for 100 people, two arches of silk flowers, $2K Louis Vuitton sneakers, $10K in post-prom ensembles, and a chauffeured Bentley where he tossed $20 bills. Other athletes established similar budgets, as 17-year-old Colorado offensive lineman Xavier Payne utilized a six-figure package to spend an estimated $10K, wearing a $2.5K custom suit, $1.1K Christian Louboutin shoes, and a $40K vintage Cartier watch while arriving in a $1.5K Mercedes AMG rental valued at $180K. Marjahn Moore explained the parental justification behind her son Dakorien's expenditures: "I wanted it to be one of the best experiences of his life. You graduated, you did well for yourself, and your prom should show that." (link) 
• Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports that in a 90-minute hearing regarding the House settlement on Wednesday, “an NCAA attorney argued against a challenge brought by plaintiff lawyers who claim multimedia rights partners, apparel brands and corporate sponsors should ‘not’ be deemed ‘associated entities,’ – a move that would likely uncap the athlete comp market. The magistrate judge, Nathanael Cousins, did not rule from the bench and suggested he may not rule for a week. While he gave no indication of a decision, Cousins multiple times mentioned that the evidence is ‘a little thin,’ as only two CSC cases have so far gone to arbitration. NCAA attorney Rakesh Kilaru argued that the CSC should retain flexibility to determine if MMRs and sponsors are ‘associated entities’ while reviewing individual NIL deals.” (link) 
• D1Baseball's Bradley Smart analyzed the roster construction of the eight teams competing in the Men’s College World Series, revealing a stark divide between offensive and pitching strategies in the transfer portal era. Across the Omaha field, DI transfers accounted for over 50% of all postseason plate appearances—and 67% of at-bats went to non-original recruits—while 54% of postseason innings pitched belonged to homegrown arms. Georgia dominated the transfer landscape, generating 46.4 total Wins Above Replacement (WAR) with a portal-heavy approach where zero pitchers and only one hitter who logged significant postseason action began their careers with the Bulldogs. Conversely, North Carolina relied entirely on internal development on the mound, utilizing homegrown pitchers for 100% of its postseason outs, but heavily utilized the portal to replace 73% of its offensive plate appearances from last season. Meanwhile, West Virginia capitalized on a unique lower-division pipeline, securing 8.4 WAR from DII transfers like pitcher Chansen Cole, who struck out 11 batters over seven innings in a Super Regional victory against Cal Poly. More. (link) 

   QUOTE OF THE DAY   

"The future is not something we enter. The future is something we create." — Leonard I. Sweet 

 

   IN CLOSING   

As I reflected on last week's conversations at NACDA, Coalition of 10 meetings, and NCAA governance discussions, one theme continued to emerge: stability matters. 

Whether the topic is federal legislation, eligibility reform, sports wagering, NIL oversight, or the future structure of Division I athletics, the decisions being made today will have lasting consequences for student-athletes and institutions across the country. 

While perspectives may differ on the path forward, I remain convinced that the future of college athletics is strongest when we preserve educational opportunity, protect broad-based participation, maintain competitive integrity, and ensure that all institutions—not just a select few—have a voice in shaping the landscape. 

Thank you to all of our member institutions and administrators for their continued leadership, partnership, and commitment to our student-athletes throughout this transformational period. 

Also sending a note of thanks to all of our athletic trainers, communications staff and facility/event managers whom I hope are getting some well-deserved time off. 

  

Have a great week. 

Dan